Sliding-door fastener



W. H. BURNS.

SLIDING DOOR FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV30,1920.

Patented June 14, 19210 2 6 U Q E T v n ,0, 0 fl w A "7/1 I'M 6 W 4 .L 5 mm r C.- {lil rliL d n. O c

FIG. 6.

'WILLIAlVI I1". B'UT.N$, 0F ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

SLIDZEIG-LUGOR FA$TENER.

1 91 Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed Hovemoer 30, 192 3.

1 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM lzl. BURNS, a citizen or the United titates, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and b'tate of ldinnesota, have invented a new and useful Sliding-Door lflistener or which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to car-door locks, particularly adaptable for use on railway box cars, and the object or the invent on s to provide a semi-automatic device of simple construction and positive action when closing the door of a car or other structure having a sliding door.

This object I attain by the mechanlsm illustrated in the accompanying drawing, 111 which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a box ear with my device applied to it in operative position near its door.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. is a side elevation of the device as attached to the door frame of a car.

Fig. l is a partly sectional side elevation showing a modified construction of the device on a reduced scale.

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation on line 5-5 in Fig. 4. I

.6 is a section on line 6-6 in Fig. 1 showing a certain detail.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, 6 designates a railway her car, with sliding side door 7, the upper part of which, has rollers 8 rolling on a rail 9, and the lower part of the door is suspended between the car body and a guide rail 10.

My device has its working parts mounted in a cast frame or bracket 11 which has a vertical plate 12 bolted as at 13 to the vertical side member 1% of the door frame, that is near the rear edge of the door when closed. 15 is the door opening. Said frame 11 has an upper horizontal arm 16 and a lower one 17 parallel thereto. A vertical and rotatable headed pin 18 passed through said arms and may have a cotter pin 19 near its lower end to hold it in place. 011 said. pin between the arms 16 and 17 I place a locking arm 20 and a toothed sector 21 on top of it, both held in right relative position and to the pin 18 by a key 22 for a purpose to be described. Or I may cast or secure the arm and the toothed sector together and place them loosely on the pin 18.

The arm 20 has a finger 23, which, when Patented June 14, 1921.

Serial No. 427,420.

the door is shut, assumes the position shown in Fig. 2, holding the door Y closed, the arm being locked by a vertically slidalole keyfiz l, which when down takes against the elbow or the arm 20. Said key 2% is a plate having a downwardly extending tongue 26 slidable through a corresponding hole 27 in arm 17, the upper or plate portion sliding through slot in arm 16; the shoulder 29 or the key therefore rests on arm 1'7 when in locking position back of the elbow 25. The arm filo-i the bracket 11 has a downwardly progecting lug 30 cast integral with it, said lug corresponding in size and being parallel to arm or tongue 26 or the key. A hole 31 in tongue 26 and hole 32 in lug 30 are exactly opposite when key is in locked position, thus permitting a wire 50 (Fig. 1) or other seal .strai to be passed through them and sealed, thus conforming with the law requirin do ears to be sealed after being loaded. W hen the car door is to beopened the seal is broken and removed, then tongue 26 of key pushed upward approximately to the dotted position 24-, so that its edge 29 clears the arm 20, the door is pushed to the right and a rack 33 secured on the inner side or the door engages the teeth of segment 21, turns the arm 20 to the dotted position 20-23 in Fig. 2. The backward swing of the arm, as soon as the last tooth oi the rack 33 passes out of engagement with the sector 21, leaves the door free to be pushed fully open. The cam or arm 20 is held in unlocked (dotted) position by the locking key plate dropping into a shallow groove 3% provided in the top of the ca m. In said position of the cam its finger 23 takes the posi tion 23*, which is out of the way of the moving door (see Fig. 2). A pin 35 on the key 2% limits the upward movement of the key and may also serve as a catch to lift the key.

In the modification Figs. 4 and 5, the arm 16 01- bracket 11 has a vertical arm 36. The locking); key is changed above the arm 16 only in that it is extended to the same height as the arm 36. has a vertical slot 37 and at its upper end is bent out to form a finger hold 36. shoulder-bolt or cap screw, 39, inserted in the slot and screwed into arm 36 guides the key plate vertically and a flange 40 on lower part of arm 36 also prevents the kev plate from slipping; edgewise.

Near the lower right hand corner of door opening I provide a guide bracket 41 secured in any suitable manner to the car body A it.

and having an upwardly extending arm 41* spaced such a distance from the car that when th door is moved to the left to be closed, a wedge shaped piece 42 secured on the door and having a straight edge 43 enthe bracket 4-1, thereby positively bringing ratchet 83 in mesh with gear sector 21, which by turning lifts key 24: out of the shallow groove 34 of the cam and swings the arm 20 into position shown in full lines in Fig; 2, and then key 24: drops down back of the arm 20 and the door is securely held slut.

The operation of my device being quite fully described in the above description, it

needs only he further mentioned that the design of the gear and rack mechanism must be such that when the door and its rack are moved to the right, the last tooth 21* on the sector turns to position 21 at which time the groove 3a of arm 20 is engaged by the locking key 24: and the point at of the cam simultaneously meets the surface of the bracket as at as (Fig. 2). \Vhen tooth 21 reaches said position 21, the last tooth of the rack is in position 33 and the door can then be pushed further open with the gear sector and rack out of mesh. On closing the door by pushing it to the left the tooth 33 first engages tooth 21 and the rest mesh in rotation, affecting the arm 20 as above de scribed.

When the car side is of the kind composed of an inner and an outer member spaced by interposed posts I out an opening 51 in the outer member for the insertion of the devi e, as shown in Fig. 1;

v i hat I claim is:

1. The combinationzwith a car and the sliding door of same, of a metal frame secured on the side of the car near the door opening, an arm pivoted in the frame and arranged to engage the rear edge of the door to resist opening of it, means on the door for automatically bringing the arm to the resisting position during the closing of the door, and an automatically moving lockmg member engaging the arm to hold it firmly in the resisting relation to the door.

2. The structure specified in claim 1, said arm having a finger or portion projecting upon the outer side of the door.

3. The structure specified in claim 1, said arm arranged to swing in horizontal plane and having in its upper side a shallow groove, and the locking member being guided to slide vertically in the frame and having a portion arranged to engage in the shallow groove when the member is raised, whereby both the arm and its locking memher are held against accidental movement when in unlocked position.

4. The st-ructure specified in claim 1, said engaging means between the door and he arm consisting of a toothed sector fixed on the arm and a short rack fixed on the door near the rear edge of it.

5. The structure specified in claim 4:, and means on the car and on the door for so guiding the door that the rack will engage the toothed sector.

The structure specified in claim 1, said frame and locking member having each a portion with a hole through it for the strap of a car seal. 1

7. The structure specified in claim 3, and means for positively stopping the opening movement of the arm when its groove is directly below the portion ofthe locking slide designed to engage therein.

8. The combination with a structure having a door opening and a sliding door ar ranged to close the opening, of an arm pivotally mounted on the structure and having a toothed sector, a rack fixed on the door and arranged to engage the sector while the door is being closed and thus bring the arm across the rear edge of the door when the latter is shut, an automatically operated locking member arranged to engage and hold the arm in locking position, and means for sealing the locking member.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM H. BURNS. 

